I'm director of the Reynolds Center for Business Journalism at the Cronkite School at Arizona State. I'm also author of the Forbes eBook Curbing Cars: America's Independence From The Auto Industry. I was Detroit bureau chief for the New York Times, and led Changing Gears, a public media project that studied the industrial Midwest. E: vmaynard@umich.edu T @mickimaynard @curbingcars

It’s the centerpiece of Episode 12 of Season 4, called “Blowing Smoke,” in which Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce must come to grips with losing the Lucky Strike account.

And, Smith’s timing couldn’t have been better, since Mad Men returns to AMC on March 25.

Take a look at the letters side by side.

Here’s Smith, explaining how he got to this point.

“After 12 years at the firm, first as a summer intern while at Stanford, then in New York for 10 years, and now in London, I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. And I can honestly say that the atmosphere here now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.”

He goes on, “To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about making money.”

Here’s how Draper launches his screed:

“For over 25 years, we devoted ourselves to peddling a product for which good work is irrelevant, because people can’t stop themselves from buying it. A product that never improves, causes illness, and makes people unhappy. But there was money in it. A lot of money. In fact, our entire business depended on it.”

Says Draper, “We knew it wasn’t good for us, but we couldn’t stop.”

Smith, in his closing paragraphs, drops his resignation bomb. “Goldman Sachs today has become too much about shortcuts and not enough about achievement. It just doesn’t feel right to me any more.”

He adds: “People who only care about making money will not sustain this firm — or the trust of its clients — for very much longer.”

Draper’s denouement: “So as of today, Sterling Cooper Draper Price will no longer take tobacco accounts. We know it’s going to be hard. If you’re interested in cigarette work, here’s a list of agencies that do it.”

He concludes, “As for us, we welcome all other business because we know our best work is ahead of us.”

The playwright Tom Stoppard says, “I think theater ought to be theatrical.” And as it turns out, resigning from Goldman Sachs can be, too.

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Sorry Greg, leaving now, after your coffers are full of dirty money, and publicly purging your guilt on your 1st career choice after 12 years is rather pathetic. Pangs of conscience? Another million dollar bonus derivative scam too much to stomach now that the public is awakening to the global bank house of cards? Bail out oh pin-striped rat.

Smart piece, Michelene. It only took Mr. Smith 12 years and the near meltdown of the global economy to notice what was going on at Goldman? C’mon, even Betty Draper would see through that. Either Mr. Smith has got a flair for the dramatic–but don’t quit your day job, old sport–or they’re not quite as smart as they’d like you to believe over at Goldman Sachs.

None of this means that Mr. Smith is wrong. Indeed, he doesn’t actually go far enough, because I can’t believe that the corporate culture wrought by Jon “the dog ate your $1.2 billion” Corzine could have been all that pure.

But what is a tad odiferous is that he only throws his tantrum after a dozen years of raking in seven figure salaries and bonuses.

Honestly aside from the mechanism by which Mr. Smith chose to announce his resignation (NYT) and the theatrical nature of the tatic, its hard for me to really make any substantive connection to the Mad Men letter. Its an interesting thought, but one I think only goes so far. Ugly op-eds from whistleblower-esque insiders really isn’t a new phenomenon or remotely attributate to – without a doubt – one of the best shows in recent memory, Mad Men. Setting that aside though, what an enjoyable indictment from inside one of the world’s largest investment banks … wow. Happy Wednesday.

Honestly aside from the mechanism by which Mr. Smith chose to announce his resignation (NYT) and the theatrical nature of the tatic, its hard for me to really make any substantive connection to the Mad Men letter. Its an interesting thought, but one I think only goes so far. Ugly op-eds from whistleblower-esque insiders really isn’t a new phenomenon or remotely attributable to – without a doubt – one of the best shows in recent memory, Mad Men. Setting that aside though, what an enjoyable indictment from inside one of the world’s largest investment banks … wow. Happy Wednesday.

How does one get a REAL QUESTION to this “GREG SMITH”? I have a real example on the corporate level “Birth” of how his experience with the Empirical (as in the real truth and reality that it is an Empire built on the backs of the working people) Power World of CORPORATE AMERICA “Like” what is being “depicted only” (as they say) regarding Corporate giants like Goldman/Sachs got it’s start. I need to give him some “clues” as to the roots of this corporate greed and exploitations, and the evasions or circumvention of “FEDERAL LAW”. I had Fed agents come to my house and document. I had NAMES and actual hard copy proof of massive “(at least the potential for at that time) Federal law violations regarding being able to acquire U.S. Government contracts. I had Distributor level documentation where “we” (myself as a purchasing agent at the time) bought from “pirate” manufacurers and sold parts to the government as O.E.M. at 1000% PROFIT. No shit, I’m not kiddin. This shit sat in Sen. Levins office for over two years too. This shit he’s going through is nothin yet. There was P., V.P. & Nat’l Sales Mgr of N. America Operations even “taking me to lunch” at Mountain Jacks to tell me personally “It’s in your best interest to leave this alone”. What does one like me do? I dug in and lost. There was no way to let the public know. Whistleblower Laws my ASS! Paper tigers, controled by a situation of the, Police overseeing Police, Doctors, Lawyers, Business policing themselves mentality and approach back then. I’m not saying he’s legit, BUT if any one wants to know the birth of the culture of wallstreet creed and greed only look into the mid 70′s to date. From my knowledge and experience with at least 2 world players and then their distributors right on down to the dealer. Oh shit now I see how”Trinkle Down theory” got started in reality. And to think all this time I wasted on thinking it was just “Tinkle On”. Wait doesn’t that kind of reflect how the wealthy have risen above. Please get word to this dude to let him know I might be able to help him when there was no one there to help me. It can be for ever devastating to wear the tag of “DISGRUNTLED”. It’s they’re first defense to any questions asked of them about truth, reality and/or actuality.